The Potato Lab: Episodes 7-8 » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps
The Potato Lab: Episodes 7-8
by DaebakGrits
Our potato couple has officially entered their dating era, but when our potato researcher gave her leading man the green light, I don’t think she was mentally prepared to be on the receiving end of his flirtations. The man puts the oo in swoon, and he’s an expert at leaving her flustered and speechless.
EPISODES 7-8
In the unlikely event you forgot where our story left off last week, let me paint a picture for you. Mi-kyung, having just found out that Baek-ho had submitted her termination paperwork, showed up on his doorstep demanding an explanation for why his hot-and-cold behavior had been stuck on the subarctic setting for the last 24 hours. And in the dimly lit foyer, he’d leaned in, eyes all intense and smoldering, and confessed that she’s a line he’d like to cross.
Understandably flustered and flummoxed by the ambiguity of Baek-ho’s metaphor, Mi-kyung temporarily retreats to consult an expert. But Ong-ju, who’d passed out on the sofa like some frat boy watching his March Madness bracket fall to pieces, did not have the wits about her to understand what Mi-kyung was asking — let alone provide a translation or relevant advice. So, Mi-kyung returns to Baek-ho’s doorstep and tries to get an explanation directly from the source. This “line” you’re talking about, she asks cautiously, is it of a sexual nature or…?
Baek-ho decides the best way to account for his recent actions (and honorable intentions) is to provide Mi-kyung with a peek into his past. So, he gets her permission to trauma-dump and explain that a lot of his current mannerisms stem from him being abandoned by his mother when he was a child. Personally, I found the timing and execution of this reveal contrived. Instead of choosing an organic moment for Baek-ho to open up about his past, it comes off as if the writers are chucking exposition at the audience because — amid the cooking contests and private road disputes — they failed to leave any sort of substantial breadcrumbs. It’s like they decided, in hindsight, to create an overly sympathetic reason to cover for Baek-ho’s cold shoulder when, in my opinion, him struggling to separate work from his personal feelings is enough of an explanation for his actions.
Baek-ho goes on to explain that his obsessive need for control and order are part of the coping mechanisms he’d developed to protect himself and make the world — in which he’d found himself alone — more manageable. But lately, he’s lost his composure and begun to waver to a point he can’t even recognize himself. And, yes, it’s all because of her. When he realized he could no longer trust his judgement (i.e., to fire her or not to fire her), he defaulted to his earlier decision, when he knew he was still unbiased. And since it was unlikely that she would form a romantic interest in the man who fired her, he took the initiative to draw a cold, clear line between them.
Surprisingly, Mi-kyung doesn’t care about her termination, and even though she acknowledges that it’s dogshit crazy for her to fall for a coworker (again) — especially a superior who’d just fired her. But she’s down to date him. That’s right! Any hangups she might have had are seemingly a thing of the past now that she’s been on the receiving end of Baek-ho’s raw sex appeal. I mean, I get it, but if even Ong-ju (the biggest shipper of this romance) suggests Mi-kyung should pump the brakes and think things through, maybe Mi-kyung should have waited — at minimum — five minutes before agreeing to start a relationship with her soon-to-be ex-boss. Right?
As it is, though, Mi-kyung and Baek-ho agree to take things slow and keep business and pleasure separate until she is no longer a Wohan Retail employee. However, now that they’ve “crossed the line,” it’s hard for them to remain separated by it. After another heated Maroo versus Marshall debate at work, Baek-ho is so charmed by Mi-kyung’s passion for potatoes — and her desire to prove him wrong — that he invites her on a date. And Mi-kyung, completely forgetting that she supposedly vowed to put the dating on pause until she was officially unemployed, accepts his invitation.
However, even after hours and in the intimately close confines of Baek-ho’s car, Mi-kyung is unable to shelve the potato talk. She’s still miffed that Baek-ho hasn’t signed off on the Maroo potato variety. Instead of avoiding the conversation that she wants — but also doesn’t want — to have about work, Baek-ho pulls his car over so he can give Mi-kyung his undivided attention and a free pass to discuss business. She admits that she logically understands his decision needs to be rooted in numbers and statistics, but his rejection feels personal because she and her team put a lot of time and effort into developing the Maroo variety. To compound matters, she’s frustrated with herself for not being able to set aside work and focus on their first date.
Feeling guilty for ruining the mood, Mi-kung goes for a spontaneous walk to clear her head and puts a pause on their date. Baek-ho, not caring if his car gets towed, joins her. He also charmingly convinces her to think of this moment not as their first date but as their 15th date instead. And as such, it’s perfectly natural for them to fight at this point in their relationship. He also confesses that he’d already decided a while ago to approve the use of Maroo potatoes, but he delayed announcing his decision because he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t been swayed by his feelings for her.
Despite my earlier reservations over how quickly Mi-kyung agreed to date Baek-ho, I’m glad our story took the time to show that our potato couple needs an adjustment period. Also, now that Baek-ho has crossed his metaphorical line and decided to date Mi-kyung, I’m a big fan of the fact that he’s taking the lead in their relationship and proactively putting her at ease in order to make up for his earlier indecisiveness and mixed signals. (Plus, the way he put his arm on the back of her seat and turned to her in the car was just so damn sexy. *fans self*)
Although Mi-kyung and Baek-ho had decided to keep their relationship on the down low at work, their secret lasts a whole five minutes before an ajumma farmer overhears Mi-kyung trying to explain that she didn’t author the super spicy love note Baek-ho found by mistake the night before. (No, that was all Ong-ju.) News of their relationship spreads and evolves quickly, and by lunchtime all the lab employees have heard news of their “engagement.” Mi-kyung tries (and fails) to dispel the rumors, assuming that’s what Baek-ho would want, but instead he chooses to sit across from Mi-kyung at lunch and confirm that they’re an item.
Of course, this is probably the worst possible time for them to go public with their relationship. Ki-se has sent his loyal subordinate LEE SEUNG-HOON (Nam Jung-woo) to spy on Baek-ho, Mi-kyung, and Hee-jin, and he nearly has a brain aneurysm when he hears that Baek-ho is dating Mi-kyung. However, we can infer that Ki-se’s adverse reaction is not solely due to jealousy, because a cryptic phone call with Hee-jin’s sister, CEO YOON SE-JIN (Sohn Ji-yoon), suggests something nefarious might have gone down six years ago when Mi-kyung was previously employed with Wohan Retail. And, given it’s also hinted that Baek-ho may have done Mi-kung wrong in the past, we can infer that whatever Ki-se and Se-jin are alluding to has to do with Mi-kyung’s job. Not the fact that Ki-se is an asshole who broke up with Mi-kyung by way of his freaking wedding invitation. Yeah, you read that correctly.
At this point, even though very little has been revealed about Mi-kyung and Ki-se’s relationship, it’s not a surprise that Mi-kyung and Hee-jin overlapped on his dating timeline, but — dayum. What is surprising, however, is that Hee-jin fell for Ki-se, and she was so enamored by him that she proposed. While it’s easy to imagine Ki-se being unable to withstand the charms of a persistent chaebol princess, I can’t understand why Hee-jin liked him. It’s going to take a lot of flashbacks that I, frankly, don’t want to sit through in order to make me see the appeal — especially since Baek-ho is out here raising the bar so damn high real men are gonna need a trampoline to reach it.
Seriously, Baek-ho is putting in a ton of effort into his relationship with Mi-kyung — perhaps more than what’s needed — in order to prove his commitment. For example, should he have to apologize for making Hwan-kyung aware of the fact that he was missing out on a tremendous amount of passive income by not charging Ong-ju and Mi-kyung rent? Nah, I’d argue that Mi-kyung’s ire was uncalled for and misplaced, but the whole sequence of him showing up with increasingly large teddy bears was so cute that I’ll allow Mi-kyung her moment of pettiness.
Teddy bears aside, though, Baek-ho demonstrates that he’s grade-A boyfriend material primarily through his willingness to establish and respect boundaries in order to protect his relationship. Case in point: Ki-se shows up unexpectedly at USB House and makes pointed comments about Baek-ho’s dating rumor with Mi-kyung, suggesting it could be detrimental to his career. Baek-ho, however, firmly defends his decision to be in a relationship with Mi-kyung and tells Ki-se to find a hobby besides meddling in his love life. (Hah!) Clearly, even though Baek-ho was initially cautious about mixing business with pleasure, he’s fully prepared to face the professional consequences of his decision should they arise.
Ki-se’s sudden appearance at the guesthouse — not to mention his obvious familiarity with Baek-ho — rattles Mi-kyung. Conflicted over how much of her past she should share with Baek-ho, she momentarily retreats to figure out how she feels about the situation. Her sudden shift in mood is dramatic, but Baek-ho doesn’t comment on it — not even when the whole village gathers in the middle of the night to search for a missing calf and she’s obviously reluctant to pair up with him and his super bright torch light. Ultimately, they are paired together, and Mi-kyung curiously asks Baek-ho why he hasn’t asked her about her mood. His response: if someone as open and free with her emotions as her isn’t sharing what’s bothering her, then she must have a reason for not telling him. (Swoon!)
Baek-ho racks up even more best boyfriend awards after Mi-kyung accidentally finds out Ong-ju and Hwan-kyung are dating. While I can certainly sympathize with her trauma of walking in on her brother and bestie after they’ve obviously done the naked cha-cha slide, Mi-kyung really really struggles to accept this new development. As she explains to Baek-ho later, Ong-ju is practically her sister, so her relationship with Hwan-kyung feels incestuous to her.
They may seem like siblings to you, Baek-ho rationalizes, but that’s probably not how they see each other. She’s certainly allowed to take the time she needs to adjust to having her world seemingly turned upside down. But, he continues, changing the topic, he doesn’t want her sleeping at the office in the meantime. Baek-ho approaches her stealthily like a panther, and as he fiddles with the neck of her shirt and pins her against the wall, it’s clear where he wants her to spend the night…
Except it isn’t clear — not at all. Baek-ho is a big fat tease who lures her to a hotel room, yes, but instead of making her X-rated thoughts a reality, he encourages her to get a good night’s sleep — alone. He knows she’s feeling emotionally vulnerable and doesn’t want to take advantage of her, and yet he doesn’t seem to realize how saying stuff like that only makes him more irresistible. And then, as if the collective female audience isn’t already itching to climb through their television screens and pounce on him, he bids her goodnight with a promise to pick her up in the morning so they can drive to Seoul together for their weekly meeting at Wohan Retail headquarters.
But, alas, because everything seems to be going well for Baek-ho and Mi-kyung, it’s obviously time for the blissfulness of their new love to be disrupted by another conflict. Cue: Mi-kyung realizing that Hee-jin is Ki-se’s wife — well, ex-wife (but that’s a secret). And, considering the hug Hee-jin gave Ki-se just before the elevator doors opened and Baek-ho and Mi-kyung caught them together, it seems like Hee-jin regrets their divorce (for some reason I can’t even begin to fathom.)
Well, color me surprised, Beanies, because this drama is actually getting better. Is there a direct correlation between my viewing pleasure and the number of times Baek-ho does something attractive? Probably, but even if we ignore the fact that Baek-ho is single-handedly ruining me for real men, the overall quality of these latest episodes is better than previous ones. The slapstick humor is noticeably toned down, and episode filler — like the missing calf arc — is used more effectively as a means to provide Mi-kyung and Baek-ho with time to directly interact and develop a relationship. In short, this romance be boppin’.
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